Oh my gosh 11 sleeps to go........

Eleven sleeps till the big elf himself does his magical stuff.  Hope there are a few little elves to do a little magic before then as I could use a little help, though I would settle for a few days smooth days with no unexpected disruptions!

Now long ago I told you that I received a parcel from Celia containing a heap of blocks sewn by Celia and her friend Jennifer.  Also included in the parcel were 6 lovely lined draw string bags for our six girly soldiers in Afghanistan.  You can check it all out here if you like.  Well today I finally packaged up all the bags and send them off.  The goodies were mostly for the five new girls that we haven't sent anything to yet - lip balm, hand cream, wet wipes, nice soap, notebook and other bits.  I also included some Freddo Frogs for our original girlie to share with the others too.  Here they are all packed and ready to go.

 The five bags fitted in nicely side by side, with our original girlie's bag sitting on top.

Thanks Celia - I think the girls are going to love them and they will be delighted by the surprise.

Last night I showed you some bookmarks I am working on and some of you asked if I had designed them myself.  I WISH!!  No, in fact I went to my go to reference books - my collection of ART TO HEART books and this one in particular.

 They are full of gorgeous items to make for yourself and for gifts.  Love them!  Here you can see their version of the bookmarks.

 And here are my brighter versions - still under construction.

I had lots of bits to do today.  First up I finished sewing Celia's blocks for our monthly swap - can't show you yet as she hasn't seen them.  Each month we have been swapping four blocks and an extra along with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I send her four 5 inch stars and a hexagon flower and Celia sends me 5 crumb blocks and a cute stitchery.  As this was the last swap for this year I included a Christmas present too (which I also finished this morning) and a little something for a cute little girl - no hints but I will fill you in when it has been received.

I also finished off my Santa ornament - would make a good gift tag too!

 Once all the sewing was done I parceled up all my interstate and international bits that needed to go into the mail - Christmas and birthday presents for my family and my husband's and a few things for overseas, including the Aussie girlies box.  I dragged my Guitar Hero out of bed after 1pm and he showered and came to the post office with me - two armloads each!

Finally home to pack up my gear for my last fortnightly sewing class of the year.  No sewing again but this time I cut out the BOM for the LQS where the classes are held.  I was a bit behind so I cut out the blocks for October, November and the last is Dec/Jan.  I have been making two versions of each block - hot pink/orange/yellow and white and a red and white version.  Tonight I didn't cut out the red and white version - I decided that I need more shades - I only seem to have a light, lots of darks and a few mediums.  I need more variation before I cut the red blocks out.

The response to the Blog Hop Party has been great.  I have been systematically checking out as many of the blog give aways as I can and, as much as I don't want more competition for the ones I have entered, you just have to get along and check them all out.   They are all listed here!  There are lots of really generous bloggers out there.

You have until the 17th to enter most of them so get along and don't forger to comment here if you would like a chance to win these!

Warning - surprise included in the draw!

I am blown away by the number of  people who have decided to become followers after finding my blog via the giveaway.  I am delighted you think my blog is worth returning to.  What a compliment.  I am planning a thankyou giveaway in the New Year for followers only to show my appreciation!  So, stay tuned!

Till next time.......happy stitching!